Sri Lanka gears up for AHF Hockey Tourney

By Susil Premalal   

Sri Lanka  will participate in the Asian Hockey Federation (AHF) Cup Under-21 Junior Men’s and Women’s Hockey Tournament 2024 from June 13 to 27 in Singapore.   
This tournament will also serve as a qualifier for the Junior Asia Cup 2024 Hockey Tournament. This will be the first overseas hockey tournament for the Sri Lanka Men’s and Women’s Teams.   
The entire cost for the two participating teams, including air tickets and accommodation will be over Rs. 10m and the SLHF hopes to look for the necessary funds from the state and private sector.   
Meanwhile, the SLHF has set up a 34-member Men’s national pool and a 33-member Women’s national pool in preparation for the AHF Cup Under-21 Junior Men’s and Women’s Hockey Tournament.   
The two national pools were set up after an island-wide talent search and following the junior national hockey championships, SLHF President, P. Vishvanathan told the Daily Mirror yesterday.   
The fitness tests for the Men’s and Women’s national pool players will be held on March 19 and 20 at the National Institute of Sports Medicine Unit in Colombo.   
The SLHF has appointed Shane Ratnam as the Men’s Coach and Mario Joseph as the Women’s Coach. Dhanushka Herath will be the Manager of the Men’s Team and Amal Gunasekera will be the Manager of the Women’s Team.